Molding-machine.



No. 786,367. PATENTED APR. 4, 1 905.

' I. L. LANDIS.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.9,1904.

Patented April 4, 1505 PATENT OFFICE.

ISRAEL L. LANDIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOLDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,367, dated April 4,1905.

Application filed November 9, 1904. Serial No. 231,975-

To all 11/72/0177, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISRAEL L. LANDIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Molding- Machines, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to improvements in molds for building walls ofconcrete or plastic material, and has particular reference to mechanismsfor operating or moving simultaneously the sides of a mold.

The object of my invention is to provide improved means for moving thesides of a mold or mold-boards toward and from each other, adaptable tomolds of great length as well as short molds and always operable by asingle lever no matter what may be the length of the mold.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mold equally suited formaking solid or hollow walls and quickly adjustable or adaptable to formwalls of a variety of thicknesses without disturbing the operatingmechism associated with the mold-boards.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in thefollowing description, and its novel meritorius features will beincorporated in the annexed claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of thisspecification, in which the figure is a perspective view of a machineembodying my invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are mold-boardsarranged in parallel relation.

6 7 and 8 9 are yokes. The yokes 7 and 9 are of channel form and intheir channels the yokes 6 and 8 are slidably adjustable. The yokes 7and 9 carry on their upper flanges gear-racks 10 and 11, respectively,engaging pinions 12 and 13, mounted rigidly on the ends of a shaft 14,journaled in bearings 15 and 16, projecting upwardly from the yokes 6and 8. On one end of the shaft 14 is keyed a lever 17 which is normallyclamped fast in a given position in its semicircular path of rotationagainst an arch 18, having a semicircular slot 19, through which passesa screw 20, having threaded engagement with the le- =4, but near theiropposite ends.

ver 17. The yoke6 has downwardly-extending arms 21 22, bolted or screwedfast to moldboards 2 and 4. The yoke 8 has similar arms 23 and 24, alsosecured to said boards 2 and The yokes 7 and 9 have similar arms 25 26and 27 28, secured to the boards 3 and 5. The latter therefore movetogether in one direction, while the boards 2 and 4 move together in theopposite direction when shaft 14 is rotated by means of lever 17. In thevertical side of the channel-yoke 9 is a slot 29 for a screw 30, whichhas threaded engagement with the yoke 8 and prevents separationlaterally of yokes 8 and 9. Yokes 6 and 7 may be similarly boundtogether, though this is not ordinarily necessary, as the shaft 14connects yokes 7 and 9, whose bearings 15 and 16 may be arranged toengage the shaft 14 so that it will not move longitudinally. The shaft14 being held in bearings secured to the yokes 6 and 8, slidable in thechannels of yokes 7 and 9, and the latter carrying the racks 10 and 11,meshing with the pinions 12 and 13, it is obvious that when the latterare rotated the yokes 7 and 9 will be slid longitudinally of the yokes 6and 8, and as the yokes 7 and 9 carry the mold-boards 3 and 5 saidmoldboards will move toward or away from the mold-boards 2 and 4,according to the direction in which lever 17 is moved, thereby eitherexpanding the spaces 31 32 between boards 2 3 and4 5, respectively, andcontracting the space 33 between boards 3 and 4, or vice versa.

As none of the operating mechanism depends upon any of the mold-boardsfor its support, said boards may be employed either as one pair or twopairs, and when one pair only is employed for building solid walls aconsiderable variety of thicknesses of such walls may be made with thesame machine. As a comparatively slight rotation of the lever 17 isnecessary in order to loosen the moldboards, the balance of its range ofmovement may be utilized for attaining a more exact adjustment of theboards laterally or for gaging the size of the mold space or spaces.

A series of mold-boards provided with the operating mechanism describedin the foretamped or packed the lever 17- is rotated to the left, whichwill cause mold-board 3 to move into the hollow space between boards 3and 4 or to be moved closer to mold-board 4. Mold-board 5 willsimultaneously be moved outward away from the newly-constructedwall-section or away from mold-board 4:, and the mold will thus be freedfrom the wall and ready to be moved into a new position to repeat theoperation.

By arranging the operating mechanism i above the mold-boards I amenabled to operate the mold in narrow spaces too conlined to permit theoperator to stand by the side of the mold or to permit an operatingmechanism to be partly arranged on one side thereof.

I am aware of molding-machines employing screws and nuts for moving themold-boards; but such mechanism is objectionable, because concrete orcement will invariably be spilled upon the screws in filling the moldand become wedged between the threads of nut and screw and bind sametogether against relative movement. The grit will also quickly grind outthe threads, with the result that the machine is quickly worn out.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a molding-machine, a series of moldboards arranged in parallelrelation, pairs of yokes supportingsaid mold-boards, one member of eachpair of yokes slidable upon its companion member, a rotary shaftparalleling said mold-boards, said shaft mountedupon one member of eachpair and having pinions engaging racks on the companion members.

2. A molding-machine having a pair of sides arranged parallel, two pairsof yokes for supporting the opposite ends of said sides, the members ofeach pair arranged to slide upon each other, a rotary shaft journaled inbearings upon one member of each said pair of yokes, gear-racks upon theother members of said pairs, pinions keyed upon said shaft to mesh withsaid racks and a lever for rotating said shaft.

3. A molding-machine having sides or moldboards arranged parallel, twopairs of yokes supporting the ends of said sides, the members of eachpair of yokes arranged to slide upon each other, a rotary shaft having alever and pinions keyed thereupon, said shaft journaled upon one memberof each pair of yokes. a slotted arch fixed upon one member of one pairof yokes, means for clamping said lever to said arch at any point in itspath of rotation, and toothed racks upon the companion members of saidpairs of yokes, arranged to mesh with said pinions.

4C. In a mold ing-machine,two series of members arranged to move inopposite parallel directions, a lever-operated shaft journaled on one ofsaid series of members, pinions on said shaft, racks, engaging saidpinions, mounted on the other series and a series of mold-boards securedto said members.

5. In a molding-machine, a plurality of pairs of members, each paircomprising a stationary bar and a movable bar, the latter slidable uponthe former, a toothed rack mounted on one member of each pair, a rotaryshaft and pinion mounted on the other member of each pair, a lever forrotating said shaft, means for locking said lever against movement inany radial position alongits path of movement, and moldboards mounted onsaid pairs of members.

6. In a molding-machine, a plurality of pairs of members, each paircomprising a stationary bar and a movable bar, the latter slidable onthe former, a shaft journaled on the stationary bars, gear-racks mountedon the movable bars, pinions keyed to said shaft and engaging saidracks, a lever for rotating said shaft, a support, means for clampingsaid lever to said support, and mold-boards upon said members.

7. In a molding-machine, a plurality of pairs of members, each paircomprising a stationary bar and a channel-bar, the latter slidable inthe channel on the former, a slotin each channelbar, a headed pin,engaging said slot,.on each stationary bar, said pin and slot holdingthe members of each pair together against lateral movement relatively toeach other while permitting relative longitudinal movement, alever-operated rack-:unl-pinion mechanism for moving the members of eachpair in opposite parallel directions, and mold-boards mounted on saidmembers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ISRAEL L. LANDIS.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN T. THOMPSON, GEORGE S. MACKENZIE.

